He looked up sharply. ‘I never officially said I didn’t want children. It was just a throwaway comment when I was young. As for how we parted, I thought I was doing you a favour.’

‘A favour?’

‘Your career. You were talking about packing it all in.’

‘No, I wasn’t! I just wanted to slow it down a bit, do less travelling.’

‘Exactly,’ he said, eyes alive with emotion. ‘It’s your passion and yet there you were, saying you wanted to leave it all behind for me.’

I laughed. ‘Wow. Do I really strike you as the kind of woman who’d give her career up for a man?’

‘No, it’s just—’ He paused, gazing at the road I’d just come from and taking in the small primary school in the distance. ‘It doesn’t matter now, does it? All that matters is Lumin. Is she at that school?’

I nodded and his face softened. I got my house keys out. ‘Come in,’ I said. ‘I think we both need a coffee.’

I opened the door and he walked in, looking huge in the tiny living room. ‘It’s no Scottish lodge but it suits us just fine,’ I said, suddenly feeling defensive of the little house I’d worked hard to buy.

‘No, it’s great,’ he said, taking in the soft throws on the sofas and the wildlife pictures on the walls. He paused as he noticed the sculpture of the bird he’d done for me that first Christmas on one of the bookshelves. Then he looked at the montage of pictures in a frame featuring Lumin and me over the years. He seemed to hold his breath, his eyes filling with tears. He walked over and touched her face with his fingers.

‘She looks just like you,’ he said.

‘I always think she looks like you.’

He turned to me. ‘Both of us then. Jesus, Gwyneth, why the hell didn’t you tell me?’

‘I already explained,’ I said miserably.

‘They’re not good enough excuses.’

‘Okay, fine. I was scared you’d reject her, like my parents rejected me.’

He looked at me in surprise. ‘But … your parents are dead? Did something happen between you before they died?’

I turned away. ‘I need coffee. Do you want a coffee?’

‘Yeah,’ he said, the anger still evident in his voice.

I walked into the little kitchen and he followed, the atmosphere electric. As I switched on the kettle, Dylan walked up to the coat rack by the back door, taking in Lumin’s small jacket and her little wellington boots. He picked up one of the boots. ‘She’s tiny.’

‘She’s actually quite tall for her age. Another thing she got from you.’